Republicans counter by tying Democratic donors and candidates to Epstein
In the final stretch of the 2026 midterm campaign, Democratic candidates and the groups that support them have released ads across the country accusing Republican opponents of protecting pedophiles by voting against legislation to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender. The ads accuse candidates of “protecting” Epstein, who was accused of running a sex-trafficking ring involving minors, and appear intended to provoke an emotional response.
The spending behind the message has been large. An analysis from CNN found that candidates and outside groups have spent more than $35 million on Epstein-related ads. A separate analysis from the Washington Post found that Democrats spent more than $40 million on Epstein-related ads across six key Senate races.
In Colorado, ads targeting Republican Jeff Crank note that the lawmaker voted against releasing the Epstein files. One ad features the family members of Virginia Giuffre, a woman who survived abuse at the hands of Epstein and died by suicide last year, claiming Crank “covered up Epstein’s crimes to protect Donald Trump.”
A spokesperson for Crank’s campaign called the ad “intentionally vague” in a statement to the Washington Post, saying Crank’s position was that he would vote against the files’ release until he could be confident that victim information was properly redacted. The campaign also said it was “unfortunate” that Crank’s opponent, Jessica Killin, was “preying on a grieving family with the help of the Washington Democrats.” Crank’s staff invited and met with Giuffre’s family, though Crank himself did not meet with them in person, the New York Times reported, and the campaign said it offered to meet with Epstein victims before the vote on the legislation.
In Iowa, Senate candidate Ashley Hinson has been accused of voting to “protect her donors” by refusing to vote to release the Epstein files. “This week I had to explain to my boys, ‘No, Mom does not protect pedophiles,’” Hinson said in a campaign ad responding to the attacks.
An ad targeting Mike Collins, the Republican running for a Georgia Senate seat, says: “Mike Collins voted against releasing the Epstein files even after he knew Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation exploited 14-year-old girls for sex.” In Florida, Jimmy Patronis has faced an attack from his Democratic opponent claiming he called investigating Epstein “a waste of his time.”
Patronis never called the investigation a “waste of time,” according to the Guardian’s reporting; he told a local radio station that while he had “no problem getting everything all released,” the issue was a “massive energy and time suck at the end of the day.” Melissa Stone, a spokesperson for Patronis’s campaign, highlighted his work with Trump to obtain disaster funding after Hurricane Isaias and said his opponent, Gay Valimont, was “still talking about a dead pedophile in a sad web video than helping the people of [the first congressional district] recover.”
The ads rest on last year’s congressional fight over the files. Democrats and a select few House Republicans tried to force a vote on the Epstein files through a discharge petition, a procedure used in Congress to bypass the traditional steps of legislation and force a vote on the House floor. Donald Trump, who knew Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, opposed the discharge petition, reversing his campaign promise to increase government transparency, and House Republicans largely aligned themselves with him — prompting anger from high-profile Trump voters.
Under pressure from allies, Trump eventually supported the legislation, giving Republican lawmakers the go-ahead to vote for it. All but one House Republican voted for the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Many of the ads omit that nearly every House Republican voted to release the Epstein files when the legislation came to the floor, after Trump had agreed to sign it, referring instead to Republicans’ opposition to early attempts to force the bill to a vote. Republicans have pointed to that record in disputing the attacks. “Of course I voted to release the Epstein files,” Hinson said in a direct-to-camera ad accusing her opponent, Josh Turek, of lying. Hinson voted for the final Epstein Files Transparency Act but did not sign on to the discharge petition.
Some Republicans and groups supporting the party have sought to flip the script, accusing Democrats of taking money from donors who had ties to Epstein. During a Georgia Senate debate, Collins accused his opponent, Jon Ossoff, of accepting campaign donations from Reid Hoffman, a tech billionaire who had ties to Epstein. Hoffman has said he only knew Epstein through fundraising relationships and regrets it. “You can claim to fight against the Epstein class, but I’m going to tell you, this call is coming from inside the house and the Epstein class is on stage right now and it’s you,” Collins said.
In New Mexico’s gubernatorial race, an outside group released an ad accusing Democratic candidate Deb Haaland of accepting a ride on Epstein’s private jet and taking “tens of thousands of dollars from Epstein businesses” and then “asking for more.” Haaland did not fly on Epstein’s jet, but did take a flight booked by one of Epstein’s companies in 2014, and has said she was unaware the chartered flight was owned by an Epstein-owned company.